The Devils can’t depend on California sunshine alone to prevent their horrid start from snowballing into disaster. They desperately need their scoring to warm up on their western road trip.

“I’m not concerned about our [2-6-1] record,” general manager Lou Lamoriello said yesterday as his team prepared for tonight’s game at San Jose, the second of six on the road and first of five visiting Western Conference opponents.

The Devils stand last in the league in point percentage (.278) and in goals per game (1.67). The correlation is obvious — and stunning given the arsenal New Jersey possesses.

“We have scorers,” Lamoriello said. “It’s not that we think we have scorers, we have scorers who have scored in the past and are not too old to score now. They’ve always scored and that will come.”

The Devils scored a grand total of 15 goals in their first nine games, and they have just 10 in their past 23 regulation periods.

“What we need is to just have some success,” Lamoriello said. “There’s no question we played very desperately in the Ranger game (a 3-1 loss Sunday). We played very hard, every player.

“We have to make better breaks for ourselves. If we have that same perseverance, things will take care of themselves. We have to make better opportunities.”

Lamoriello demands full effort, but he wants more than that.

“I hate the phrase, ‘We have to work harder,’ ” he said. “We have to work smarter when we work hard. And not press.”

He would not deny that he is worried, but insisted that’s not unusual.

“I worry all the time, even if we’re 10-0,” Lamoriello said. “This is not a time when you look at anything but reasons. We’re not going to change things for the sake of changing.”

That included John MacLean’s status as coach. But things change, too.

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Lamoriello said Anton Volchenkov, out since Oct. 9 because of a broken nose and then a stiff neck, has begun skating to regain conditioning. He also said Brian Rolston (hernia surgery), out since that same Oct. 9 loss in Washington, has begun skating lightly, but is not yet close to a return. . . . The Devils visit the Ducks on Friday, the Kings on Saturday, the Canucks on Monday and the Blackhawks next Wednesday.